adopted kid

[Homicidalheathen]

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Adoptive mother convicted in son's death

Posted: Today at 10:40 a.m.

Updated: 19 minutes ago

Smithfield, N.C. — A Johnston County woman who beat and terrorized her children for years was convicted Thursday in the death of her 4-year-old adopted son.

Jurors deliberated about 2½ hours before finding Lynn Paddock guilty of first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the Feb. 26, 2006, death of Sean Paddock.

Authorities said Sean was bound so tightly in blankets that he suffocated. Defense attorneys maintain that the boy's death was accidental and that Paddock's actions were a form of discipline, not abuse.

Paddock, 47, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. The murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Assistant Johnston County District Attorney Paul Jackson said he was pleased with the verdict but called the case a tragedy.

"This is about a 4-year-old boy named Sean who lost his life. There is nothing to celebrate," Jackson said.

The six surviving Paddock children testified during the three-week trial that Paddock beat them almost daily with flexible plastic rods, wooden spoons and other devices. She also forced them to exercise or sit facing a wall for hours, controlled what they ate and when they went to the bathroom and denied them contact with other children and adults.

A forensic pediatrician described the abuse as "ritualistic torture" that was rooted in Paddock's obsessive need for control.

Jackson said the state "stepped in to end the cycle of violence" but said the abuse will likely affect the Paddock children for the rest of their lives.

A psychologist who examined Paddock said he didn't believe she meant to harm her children. An abusive childhood had left her with poor decision-making skills, he said, and she likely turned elsewhere for guidance in how best to discipline her children.

Paddock wept on the witness stand as she told jurors how she was reared by an abusive mother and winding up in foster care.

She also sobbed as she recounted Sean's death and said she would gladly have traded places with him.

In addition to the life sentence for murder, Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins sentenced Paddock to 73 to 97 months in prison on the felony child abuse conviction. Her attorneys argued against the sentence, saying it was unnecessary because of the murder conviction.

Paddock shook her head as she was taken into custody and led from the courtroom.

[Rev.Reverence]

How about SOME SORT of 'head-shrink' talkin' to perspective adoptive parents..

..How about questions like "were you beaten as a child?"

..We've seen too much of this.

[pomba gira]

Wow. Very similar to that case in this area a couple years ago... Ricky something-or-other. Couple adopted this poor child, then "mom" abused him for years, falsely portrayed him as an emotionally impaired problem child, finally killed him with a hammer, then had half the community out searching for him for weeks before the truth finally came out. Hubby was apparently so dominated by her that he went along with it all and never lifted a finger to protect the kid. Really tragic case.

[Homicidalheathen]

...No...WIRE....HANGERS!!!

sorry couldn't resist.

I bet if your rich you could still find a way....